[Dawn] The funeral prayers of former Jamaati-e-Islami (JI) chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmed...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went... were held on motorway Ring Road in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. on Sunday, January 6, 2012, DawnNews reported.

The funeral prayers were led by JI Chief Syed Munawar Hassan... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009..., and were attended by a large number of political and religious leaders including Central Amir of Jamaat e Ulema Islam (JUI-F) Fazlur Rehman, Chairman Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... President, Javed Hashmi, JUI-F leader, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, JI leader Liaquat Baloch, Former Senior Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Minister, Siraj Ul Haq, JUI-Sami Chief, Maulana Samiul Haq...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time..., Professor Khurshid Ahmed, former MNA Shabeer Ahmed Khan, senators, members of the parliament, officials, ex-local government representatives, and a large number of workers of JI.

After the prayers, his body was shifted to Ziarat Kaka Sahib in Nowshera district where he was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard.

Earlier today, Ahmed's body was brought from Islamabad to his residence in Peshawar.

Many party workers and supporters from all over the country were traveling to Peshawar to attend the funeral.

President of Pakistain Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor and Chief Minister offered condolences over the death of the veteran politician and called it a great loss.

Pakistain Mohammedan league- Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf..., Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Muttahida Qaumi Movement...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and Religious scholar and Minhaj-ul-Koran International chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, among others, also offered condolences over the demise of the former JI chief.

The 74-year-old religious scholar had died in Islamabad of cardiac illness.

Ahmed was suffering from cardiac disease for quite some time and turned critical three days ago.

Qazi joined JI in 1978 and was elected as the party's ameer (chief) in 1987, a position he would be re-elected to on two more occassions before finally stepping down in 2009. He served as the party's ameer for 22 years.

Last November, he escaped an attack unhurt when a jacket wallah detonated explosives near his convoy in the Mohmand tribal agency.

[An Nahar] Two jacket wallahs struck a meeting of community leaders in a southern Afghan town near the Pakistain border on Sunday, killing at least five people and wounding 15, officials said.

One gunman on foot opened fire on guards at the entrance of the council building in Spin Boldak, forced his way inside and let 'er rip, while a second attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the outside walls.

The Kandahar provincial government said that the dead were a child, a health vaccinator, a member of the shura (council), a shopkeeper and a person there to register himself for an identity card.

"All the maimed were civilians who had come to the meeting to discuss their problems with shura members," it said in a statement, adding that three people were being treated for serious injuries in Kandahar city hospital.

The building partially collapsed due the impact of the blasts, with some of the injured pulled from the rubble during a search operation to check for buried bodies.

In other news Saturday, the body of an officer from Benghazi's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was found in the Sidi Faraj area of the city, Libya Herald reported. Lieutenant-Colonel Nasser Al-Moghrabi was killed execution-style by a single gunshot to the head.

Under the former regime, the slain officer worked for Moamer Qadaffy's reviled internal security services in Benghazi.

Moghrabi's murder comes three days after masked gunman kidnapped CID head Abdulsalam al-Mihdawi in the al-Hawari neighbourhood of Benghazi.

[MAGHAREBIA] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Ansar al-Din fighters were spotted Saturday (January 5th) in a convoy of some 100 weapons-filled vehicles bound for the northern Mali town of Mopti, Al-Arabyia reported. Ansar al-Din military leader Omar Hamaha reportedly passed through Timbuktu before heading to Mopti to begin an assault on the town.

[An Nahar] A Yemeni court specializing in terrorism cases sentenced five Yemenis to between four and 10 years in prison Sunday on charges of membership in Al-Qaeda and for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks.

Key defendant Mohammed Muawada was placed in durance vileKeep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! for 10 years while three accomplices were given a 6-year prison sentence each and the fifth one was sentenced to four years in jail, according to the verdicts announced by judge Hilal Mahfal.

Four other suspects were released on parole while two were set free.

All 11 had been locked awayDrop the rod and step away witcher hands up! on charges of "membership in Al-Qaeda" and "plotting to attack vital installations, military camps, foreign embassies" as well as security officials across Yemen.

US immigration officials have deported an Iranian businessman found guilty of illegally shipping equipment to Iran that authorities said could be used in the country's nuclear program.

Amirhossein Sairafi pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy, money laundering and violating the 1995 Iran trade embargo and was sentenced to more than three years in prison.

He was released Thursday from a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Sairafi was then deported from reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... on a commercial flight.

Sairafi was accused of helping ship specialized vacuum pump equipment to Iran through a free-trade zone in the United Arab Emirates.

US authorities say the equipment can be used in the enrichment of uranium, a process that can produce reactor fuel as well as material for nuclear weapons.

[NY Times] Pak and Indian troops exchanged gunfire across the disputed Kashmire border early Sunday, leaving one Pak soldier dead in a relatively rare fatal confrontation between the two neighbors.Look for a shootout with infiltrators - probably Lashkar-e-Taiba - in a couple days.
As usual, the rival armies, which have been engaged in a face-off in Kashmire for decades, disagreed about who started the shooting or what happened next.

Pakistain said Indian troops crossed the disputed boundary, known as the Line of Control, into Pak-controlled territory, where they attacked a remote outpost and maimed two soldiers, one of whom later died.

"Our army troops effectively responded and repulsed the attack successfully," said a Pak military front man, speaking on condition of anonymity... for fear of being murdered.... "Indian army troops left behind a gun and a dagger."

But the Indian military said that its troops had not crossed into Pak territory and that it was only responding to an unprovoked Pak shelling across the Line of Control that destroyed a civilian house.

"None of our troops crossed the Line of Control," Col. Jagadish Dahiya, an Indian Army front man, told Rooters. "We have no casualties or injuries."

The clash was an unusual breach of an almost decade-long cease-fire that has largely held between the two rivals, whose leaders have concentrated on building economic and diplomatic ties.

In the last major shooting, in September 2011, Pakistain claimed to have lost three soldiers while India said one of its officers was killed. There have been other, smaller, festivities in recent months.

[Dawn] Bombardment by Pak military jets killed eight suspected bully boyz in Orakzai Agency... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers... whereas three persons, including the son of a tribal leader, were killed in another unrelated firing incident in Khyber tribal region on Sunday.

Security sources while talking to Dawn.com said that Pak military jets bombarded three suspected turban hideouts, killing eight suspected bully boyz and injuring another in Mamozai area of Orakzai Agency.

More details were not available till the filing of this report.

Security sources claimed that 92 per cent area in Khyber tribal region had been cleared out of turban infestation.

In another unrelated incident, three persons were killed and a woman was injured when unknown gunnies, riding a cycle of violence, opened fire in Khyber tribal region.

According to sources the son of a tribal leader was traveling in a passenger vehicle from Chipri to Jamrud when unknown gunnies opened fire on the vehicle.

Security forces cordoned off the area as investigations into the incident went underway.

[Dawn] Tension gripped parts of New Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... after the killing of two Sunni Tehrik...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and liquidations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... activists on Saturday hardly an hour before a Muttahida Qaumi Movement...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... activist was rubbed out and his brother was maimed near the Nagan traffic intersection in a targeted attack, police said.

Only a day ago, a Sunni Tehrik member in charge of the Baldia sector was killed and his associate was maimed in a targeted attack.

In New Bloody Karachi, the police said, 31-year-old Abdul Razzaq aka Mamu and 29-year-old Mohammad Ali aka Pilot were targeted near a roadside paan shop by gunnies riding a cycle of violence.

Following the shooting, the attackers sped away.

"Razzaq sustained a single bullet wound in the head, while Ali was hit by three bullets in the chest, neck and hand," said Bilal Colony SHO Inspector Mohammad Mohsin.

The police Sherlocks later collected nine spent bullet casings at the scene of the crime in Sector 5-J and shifted the bodies to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.After the incident, random gunfire in the locality forced traders to pull down shutters while transport gradually disappeared from roads. Normality had not returned to some parts of New Bloody Karachi till sunset.

A front man for the Sunni Tehrik condemned the killing of the two active members of the party's New Bloody Karachi sector.

"Within a month we have lost nearly a dozen workers in targeted attacks. The authorities have been informed time and again
about a serious threat to our workers in every district of the city but they have yet to pay heed," he said.

"We believe the political activists' killings are part of an organised campaign to disturb Bloody Karachi peace just before the crucial elections in Pakistain's history."

Within an hour, gunnies targeted two brothers associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement at their puncture shop near the Nagan traffic intersection, police said.

An official at the Sir Syed Town cop shoppe said two men riding a motorbike pulled up at the shop, one of them walked into it, pulled out a pistol and fired multiple shots at the two brothers before fleeing with his waiting accomplice.

"As a result of the firing, 29-year-old Shahzad and his elder brother Dilshad, 35, sustained gunshot wounds," said Sir Syed Town SHO Inspector Balaghat Hussain.

"They were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Shahzad died and Dilshad is said to be in a critical condition."

He said the victims were New Bloody Karachi residents and had been running the puncture in the area for the past many years.

[Jpost] Paleostinian Authority security forces in the West Bank have nabbedDrop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! members of a new terrorist group who recently declared the beginning of a third intifada against Israel.

In a video posted on Youtube last month, nine masked men from Hebron declared the establishment of a new group called the Brigades of National Unity and called for a third intifada.

A front man for the group vowed to pursue the fight against Israel until the liberation of all of Paleostine, "from the river to the sea."

He said that the group has decided to launch the third intifada against Israel from the heart of Hebron so that it would expand to the rest of the Paleostinian territories.

The front man also threatened that his group would kidnap IDF soldiers and other Israelis "if Israel continued to kill and arrest" Paleostinians.

[Ynet] Four teens and two Arab men were locked awayDrop the rod and step away witcher hands up! by Border Guard forces while hurling Molotov cocktails and fireworks at the Meyuchas house where Jewish families reside in Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood. No injuries were reported.

File under "Boys will be boys". This kind of thing goes on all the time over there. Every once in a while we mention it here at Rantburg.

A soldier was killed and five others wounded in an ambush on the outskirts of a village in Pattani province early yesterday morning.

Six soldiers in a military truck were fired at by terrorists militants. At least two gunmen on a motorcycle were waiting for the truck to pass on a bridge in a village bordering Muang district. When the truck approached the bridge, the men sprayed bullets at the vehicle, woundng the six soldiers on board. The soldiers drove away and returned fire briefly as they did so. The gunmen later fled.

The gunfight left the six soldiers wounded, two of them seriously. One of them later died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Investigators recovered spent bullet casings from the scene to determine the weapons used. The army truck will also be examined. Its front windshield and doors on both sides were riddled with bullet holes. There were pools of blood inside the passenger compartment.

An intelligence report suggests attacks against security forces are likely to intensify this year.

Meanwhile, a former terrorist insurgent has urged anyone thinking of joining separatist movements to reconsider.

Mukta Leekaji, a representative of a group of former terrorists insurgents who recently turned themselves in to authorities, yesterday called on active terrorists insurgents and their sympathisers to stop using violence.

He said he and his friends had earlier been persuaded to join terror insurgency movements. He said that matters only worsened once they did so. Some of his friends lost their lives in violent attacks, causing hardship to their families.

Mr Mukta spoke during a peace-building event held by the Fourth Army in Pattani yesterday. More than 1,200 Islamic leaders, local leaders and former terrorists insurgents attended.

A woman was killed and another seriously injured in two separate gun attacks in Narathiwat province on Saturday night.

The first attack occurred at 6:20 p.m. in Si Sakhon district when the pillion rider of a motorcycle opened fire with an AK-47 rifle at the kitchen of a defense volunteer's base, intending to kill some volunteers standing nearby. The gun shots missed the volunteers but hit Anchalee Laochan, 23, the wife of a defense volunteer, killing her instantly.

The other incident which took place at 6:25 p.m. in front of a garment factory at Ban Yalaebo. Nipataya Awae, 19, was shot in the back while driving home on a motorcle by the pillion rider of another motorcycle which followed her from a market in Rueso district town.

[Iran Press TV] The brother of al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... has reportedly been tossed in the calaboose.Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! by Syrian military forces in the city of Dara'a, southwest of the capital Damascus...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
The 59-year-old Mohamed al-Zawahiri was arrested while he was meeting opposition gunnies in Dara'a, the English newspaper The Independent reported on Friday.

According to the daily, Western intelligence agencies fear the arrest could lead to the detention of more al-Qaeda members in Syria.

Zawahiri spent 14 years in prison in Egypt on charges of being involved in the liquidation of former president Anwar Sadat in 1981 and taking part in terrorist acts.

Ayman, 61, became the head of al-Qaeda in 2011. In May 2011, US Navy SEALs claimed they killed former al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden... who is no longer with us, and won't be again... in Pakistain.

Ayman has called for military action against the Syrian government.

Reports say hundreds of al-Qaeda forces of Evil are active in Syria under the banner of the al-Nusra Front group.

Last month, the US State Department designated the al-Nusra Front group as a terror organization linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Turkey, Qatar, and Soddy Arabia...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... are reportedly arming and funding gunnies fighting the Damascus government to implement Western plans in the Arab county.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the gunnies fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... organizations have accused the foreign-sponsored gunnies of committing war crimes.

[Iran Press TV] The Syrian Army has killed many foreign-backed bully boyz across the country, and confiscated a large cache of weapons from terrorists.

Syrian government forces launched attacks against bully boyz inside and outside the flashpoint cities of Daraya, An-Nabk, Homs, Hama, and Douma on Sunday and killed a large number of them, the official SANA news agency reported.

The forces also rendered ineffective large supplies of arms, ammunition, and explosives, held by the bully boyz in their hideouts. In addition, the government forces confiscated large numbers of RPG launchers and machineguns.

Also on Sunday, a unit of the Syrian armed forces ambushed forces of Evil in the Tebat al-Imam town in the Hama countryside, and seized weapons.

An Army unit also confiscated weapons and munitions from cut-thoats, who were travelling in a vehicle in the town of Nawa in the Daraa countryside.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the bully boyz fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... organizations have accused foreign-sponsored bully boyz of committing war crimes.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.